At 100 years old, he joined the army in place of his granddaughter, and became a national war god.

The city gates of Mozhou were wide open.

Su Mu rode his Ferghana horse and slowly walked into the city gate.

With his left hand holding the Dragon-Slaying Saber and his right hand aloft the head of the Northern Di King Tuoba Feng, he looked like a triumphant war god, exuding power and prestige.

The city gate was packed with a dense crowd.

They were not soldiers, but ordinary people.

The elderly, women, children, and young adults, with their families, flocked in from all directions.

They stood on tiptoe and craned their necks, and when they saw the bloody human head in Su Mu's hand, a deafening cheer erupted from the crowd.

"General Su is back!"

Upon seeing this, Su Mu excitedly raised the head of the Northern Di King and shouted, "The Northern Di King has been killed by this old man!"

"The Northern Di King is dead! General Su has killed the Northern Di King!"

"God of War! God of War! God of War!"

The shouts of the surrounding people were like a mountain roaring and a tsunami echoing back and forth between the buildings on both sides of the street.

Then some people knelt down and bowed to Su Mu in worship.

The people who followed suit also knelt down.

"General Su, you are like a second parent to the people of our northern border!"

"It's been three years. How many of our people did the Northern Barbarians kill? How many of our houses did they burn down? We all thought we'd never see this day again... But you've come. You've avenged us..."

Su Mu dismounted.

Supporting the people in front of him, he shouted:

"Arise! Arise, all of you!"

Su Mu raised his head, his eyes sweeping over the kneeling people. His voice was hoarse, yet it reached everyone's ears clearly.

"Fellow villagers, the Northern King is dead. From this day forward, there will be no more war in the North."

"You no longer need to hide in the cellar, no longer need to worry about the Northern Di people knocking on your door in the middle of the night, your sons no longer need to be conscripted, and your daughters no longer need to live in fear."

He paused, his voice becoming even deeper.

"However, whether the North can truly recover depends not on this old man, nor on the court, but on yourselves."

"Build houses, cultivate land, and get back to life."

"The development of the North requires the efforts of every citizen of the North."

"All I can do is drive away the Northern Di people for you. The rest is up to you."

In the crowd, a young man wiped away his tears and shouted, "General Su, rest assured! We will definitely live well and rebuild the northern border!"

Yes! Live well!

"We will not let General Su down!"

The people stood up one after another, their faces still wet with tears, but their eyes were already shining.

That light represents hope, an expectation for the future.

Su Mu nodded and said nothing more.

He turned around and walked towards the city wall.

Behind him, the people watched him go, and the crowd lingered for a long time.

……

On the city wall, the setting sun shone like blood.

Zhou Huchen, Qin Hao, You Zhongyi, Gu Changfeng, Zhao Tieniu and others lined up on both sides, each covered in blood, but their faces were full of excitement.

As they watched Su Mu walk onto the city wall, they all clasped their hands in a salute.

"Old Su!"

Su Mu walked to the battlements and looked at the fleeing Northern Di army in the distance.

The dark mass of defeated soldiers surged northward like the receding tide!

Zhou Huchen, his face flushed with excitement, pointed to the backs of the routed soldiers and said:

"Elder Su! The Northern Di army is in complete disarray; now is the perfect time to press our advantage!"

"This humble general requests permission to lead 20,000 cavalry in pursuit, seize the Northern Di royal court in one fell swoop, and utterly destroy the rule of the Tuoba family!"

"Yes! Charge in!"

"Take over the Northern Di royal court!"

"Let the Northern Barbarians never dare to invade the south again!"

The soldiers behind him echoed his sentiments, their emotions running high, wishing they could immediately cross the border and crush the Northern Barbarians.

Su Mu did not answer. He turned his head and looked at Qin Hao, who had been silent all along.

"General Qin, what do you think? Should we press our advantage and pursue them?"

Qin Hao stood by the battlements, his hands braced against the cold stone bricks, gazing at the vast snowfield to the north. He remained silent for a long time before slowly speaking.

"Elder Su, in my humble opinion, it is inappropriate to pursue at this time."

Zhou Huchen was taken aback, his brows furrowing: "General Qin, why is this inappropriate? The Northern Di King has just died, leaving the army leaderless and morale collapsed. This is a golden opportunity!"

Qin Hao shook his head, turned around, and looked at Zhou Huchen with earnest eyes.

"General Zhou, think about this battle we are fighting. We are fighting to protect the northern border and defend our homeland. We are a righteous army."

"The people of the North are united with us in their hatred of the enemy, and the whole nation is armed and their morale is soaring. But once we lead our troops into the Northern Barbarian lands, the situation will be completely different."

He walked to the city wall and pointed to the boundless snowfield to the north.

"The winters in the Northern Barbarians are much colder than in the northern border. Our soldiers have never experienced such extreme cold. Half of them could freeze to death in this weather alone."

"Moreover, we are not familiar with the terrain of the Northern Barbarians. We don't know where we can go or where we can't go, whether it's grasslands, swamps, or deserts. Once the defeated Northern Barbarian soldiers recover and set up an ambush in the dark, we will be caught off guard and suffer heavy losses because we are unfamiliar with the area."

"Moreover, we only have less than 30,000 troops now. Although the Northern Barbarians were defeated, at least 70,000 to 80,000 of them escaped back."

"They ran away because they were scared, not because they were all beaten. If we chase after them and push them to the brink, they'll turn around and fight us to the death."

"By then, we will be deep in enemy territory, running out of food and supplies, without reinforcements, unfamiliar with the terrain, and unsuitable for the climate. It will be hard to say who will win this battle."

Zhou Huchen opened his mouth, wanting to refute, but after thinking about it carefully, he realized that everything Qin Hao said made sense.

He swallowed hard and said nothing more.

Qin Hao turned around, looked at Su Mu, and his gaze was sincere.

"Elder Su, in my humble opinion, what our army should do now is to reorganize the defenses of the five prefectures and thirteen cities in the north, rest and recuperate our troops, stockpile provisions, and report the victory report of the defeat of the Northern Barbarians and the execution of the Northern Barbarian King to the imperial court."

"With the death of the Northern Di king, the various Northern Di tribes will surely fall into internal strife over the throne."

"Then they will fight each other. We can wait in comfort until spring, when the weather is warm and we have enough food and supplies, and then we can march north in one fell swoop and take over the Northern Di royal court. That would be the best strategy."

After listening, Su Mu's eyes were filled with satisfaction.

He nodded, a slight smile playing on his lips, and replied:

"General Qin's analysis makes a lot of sense, and that's exactly what I was thinking too."

He turned around and looked at Zhou Huchen and the soldiers.

"Tiger subjects, I understand your feelings."

"Having won a battle, who wouldn't want to press their advantage and pursue the enemy?"

"But fighting a war isn't about acting impulsively; you have to use your brain. General Qin is right. If we chase after them now, we'll turn our advantage into a disadvantage."

"The climate, terrain, and military strength of the Northern Barbarians are all unfavorable to us. We should wait until spring, until they are in internal strife, and until we are ready before we attack."

Zhou Huchen clasped his hands and bowed deeply.

"Old Su and General Qin are right to admonish me; I was too hasty."

Su Mu waved his hand and said with a smile, "No rush. Let the army rest for a few days, take good care of their injuries, eat well, and get plenty of sleep. We can discuss the Northern Barbarians later."

The soldiers clasped their hands in salute: "Yes, sir!"

Gu Changfeng stood aside, looking at Su Mu, then at Tuoba Han and Tuoba Lie who were bound by shackles, and whispered, "Elder Su, what should we do with these two?"

Su Mu's gaze fell on Tuoba Han and Tuoba Lie, and he waved his hand, giving the order:

"You may leave now. I will take care of these two."

"yes!"

The crowd clasped their hands in greeting and withdrew, leaving only Su Mu and the two Northern Di princes on the city wall.

Su Mu bent down, picked up Tuoba Feng's head from the ground, and carried it by his hair bun, walking up to Tuoba Han and Tuoba Lie.

Blood was still dripping from the head. Tuoba Feng's face was ashen, his eyes were half-open, his mouth was slightly agape, and his expression was frozen in the moment of death.

Fear, resentment, and despair were mixed together.

Su Mu threw the severed head in front of the two men.

The head rolled twice on the ground and stopped at Tuoba Han's feet.

That pale face, those half-open eyes, stared straight at Tuoba Han.

Tuoba Han's body trembled violently, and his face turned deathly pale, even paler than Tuoba Feng's head.

His lips trembled, his legs went weak, and he knelt on the ground with a thud.

"Big brother...big brother..."

His voice was hoarse and trembling, not from sadness, but from fear.

He raised his head, looking at Su Mu with pleading eyes.

"General Su... General Su... please... don't kill me... don't kill me..."

His voice was broken and incoherent.

"I'll do whatever you say... I'll do anything you ask... Please... spare my life..."